Name: _________________________
Guided Notes to go along with the PowerPoint on Glaciers
Define Glacier: Large mass of ice on land that flows under the pressure of its
own weight.
What are the two types of glaciers? Continental Ice Sheets & Alpine glaciers
How are they different from each other? Continental ice sheets are much larger
than Alpine glaciers
Explain how it is possible for a glacier to exist at the Equator. At high elevations!
(~5,200meters)
How do glaciers form? More snow must accumulate in the winter than melts
(ablates) in the summer. The snow accumulates, gets compacted and becomes
ice. Once the ice is about 300meters thick it will start to flow.
Define Firn: Compacted snow.
What is the driving force behind glacial movement? In what direction will the
ice always be flowing? Gravity! All glaciers move down slope.
The edge of a glacier can be doing one of three things: Advancing; Retreating; or
remaining Stationary. Explain each of these three scenarios.
Advancing  Accumulation is greater than melting
Retreating  Melting is greater than accumulation
Stationary  Accumulation = melting (Dynamic Equilibrium)
In which of these situations does a MORAINE form? STATIONARY
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Name: _________________________
Guided Notes to go along with the PowerPoint on Glaciers
Where will the fastest ice be? Near the top, in the middle
How do glaciers erode or remove and transport rock? Plucking and Abrasion
Describe the features that all glaciers leave behind.
I. Striations --- Parallel scratches or grooves in the bedrock that indicate the
direction of movement
II. Till --- Unsorted (small, medium, & large) sediments
III. Glacial polish --- smoothed out bedrock; the ice of a glacier is filled with sand
and silt and acts sort of like sand paper smoothing out the ground it flows over.
IV. U-Shaped Valleys
V. Erratics – Isolated boulders that do not match the surrounding geology
Describe the glacial landforms specific to Alpine/Mountain/Valley glaciers.
I.
Cirque -- semi-circular shaped bowl created as a glacier scours back
toward the mountain (1st place snow and ice accumulate)
II.
Arêtes -- steep-sided, sharp-edged bedrock ridge formed by two
glaciers eroding away on opposite sides of ridges
III.
Horns -- 3 or more cirques adjacent to one another
IV.
Tarns -- glacial lakes produced by glacial scouring- often found in
cirques
V.
Hanging Valleys -- valley eroded by a small tributary glacier; floor is at
a higher elevation that valley it feeds into…
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Name: _________________________
Guided Notes to go along with the PowerPoint on Glaciers
Describe the depositional features of continental glaciers.
I.
Moraines -- unsorted, un-layered pile of till
II.
Drumlins -- ground moraine that is mounded into a stream-lined oval
shape hill (inverted spoon) – steep side points in direction the glacier
came from
III.
Kettles -- large, buried ice blocks melted and left depressions.
Lake Ronkonkoma
IV.
Outwash -- deposits made by streams after glaciers melt
(sorted/stratified)
Ex.
Kettle Lake
Drumlins
Outwash plain
Till
Terminal Moraine
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